Focus on approaches like Tietz
Augsburg’s sports director Marinko Jurendic and managing director Michael Ströll gave insights into the club’s goals and the selection process when looking for a coach in a “Kicker” interview. In mid-October, the Fuggerstadt team presented the Dane Jess Thorup as the successor to the released Enrico Maaßen – the 53-year-old thanked the trust with two wins and two draws in his first four competitive games.
The German market “has given a lot. But the coach from Germany is not automatically better than the one from Switzerland or Denmark. For us it was much more important that we got a coach who had already proven that he could successfully coach and develop players at the highest level. “Jess has that,” Jurendic explained. Thorup worked for the Danish U20 and U21 national teams and won the Danish championship with FC Midtjylland and FC Copenhagen and the cup with Esbjerg fB.
After being promoted in 2011, the FCA has continuously played in the top class, but for the last five years it has only been in 13th place at best. Those responsible in Augsburg are not satisfied with this in the long term. Ströll said that being part of the Bundesliga was a priority. “As FCA, we can’t be so naive as to believe that we’ll automatically be there permanently just because we’ve done it for 13 years in a row. But, and this is the clear direction: we are ambitious.”
Entrances and exits
All transfers from FC Augsburg
To overview
Club boss Ströll explained: “We want to achieve more than in recent years and believe that the entire club is capable of more. This needs to be teased out, but it doesn’t happen overnight. I am convinced that we can establish FC Augsburg in the top 10 of the Bundesliga.” In terms of squad value, the Fuggerstadt team is in 12th place in the league with 118 million euros and has invested 164 million in new additions since promotion. An amount that is exceeded by 13 German clubs. In return, FCA generated 138 million euros, meaning a transfer loss of around 26 million euros.
Riedle, Höjbjerg & Co.: These famous names once played for FC Augsburg
If Augsburg were to get caught, relegation “wouldn’t throw the club off track,” said Ströll. “We would be stable enough that having to go to the second division would not cause any insoluble problems for us. But you can see how difficult it is to get back up again. The money is earned in the Bundesliga.” The bosses want to “transport” values such as “determination, cohesion, responsibility or courage and joy” into sport. Ströll declared SC Freiburg to be a role model.
The managing director expects an adjustment to the transfer policy. “We have invested a lot in players in recent years, but had significantly less revenue. We want and have to change that and, conversely, we have signed players who are capable of development like Phillip Tietz,” said Ströll. The attacker is even associated with the DFB selection and is a great character and person – “a very important criterion when selecting players.” Sports director Jurendic was unable to assess the extent to which the team could slim down in the winter. “During the international break we will take an initial inventory of the squad with Jess Thorup. Squad planning is a rolling process,” said the manager. The FCA squad has 32 players and is currently the second largest in the Bundesliga.
“We can further optimize in winter. I won’t commit myself and say we will have four fewer players.” For the first time since 2015/16, FCA recorded a significant increase in transfers this summer.
To home page